How to Evict a Sublease

Shauna ZamarripaUpdated February 21, 2017

Subletting is tricky business. In a sublease, a master tenant rents out an apartment to a new lessee, to finish out the original lease term the master tenant signed with the landlord. Some states strictly prohibit subleases without express written consent from the landlord. Despite formal eviction laws and proceedings varying state-by-state, evicting a subtenant is a relatively easy task in nearly any of them.

Consult your local real estate commission regarding the eviction laws in your area. If your state, or lease, requires that you provide proof to formally evict, however, you need to consult a property attorney before proceeding. In the majority of areas, eviction proceedings for a subtenant do not require just cause, meaning that you do not have to present the burden of proof or any evidence to evict. If your state does not have formal eviction requirements for subtenants, you have the ability to evict at will.

Provide the subtenant with written notice for eviction.The notice to evict needs to give the subtenant 30 days to vacate the premises. Provide the notice via certified mail or in person with a signed receipt from the subtenant to avoid any legal hassles later. If the tenant signed a sublease, cite the language in the lease referring to eviction without just cause. If the tenant refuses to vacate upon receipt of the notice, you will need to consult a property attorney and inquire about formal eviction proceedings. You can easily obtain a property attorney referral from the local real estate board in your area, which you consulted in Step 1.

Inform the landlord or property owner that you are evicting the subtenant. At this point, the financial responsibility for rent payment falls back to you until you complete the lease term or find a new subtenant to take over the remainder of the lease.

Tip

Roommates are not considered subtenants if they are on the original lease with the landlord. Standards to evict roommates are entirely different.

Warning

Do not attempt a formal eviction without the assistance of a competent attorney.